Fuyuhito Moriya, 39, lives with his mother in a custom-built home set on a lot that's only 30 square meters. It used to be a parking space. Moriya spent $500,000 constructing a compact three-story house on the site:

South-facing, large windows create the illusion of space. Minimal furniture and clutter keep the small home tidy. Hideaway cabinets for kitchen appliances and half size sinks shrink expected space.

Even the spiral staircase shaves inches, drawn as a triangle instead of a circle, slashing the space's diameter. The corners of the staircase become small closets, to stash shoes.

"Appliances under counters or tucked into cupboards!"Erm... where else would you put a front-loading washing machine? they're designed to go under counters! That's not particularly revolutionary. And neither is having a microwave in a cupboard, or using the deadspace on a stairwell. in fact, if it were me, I'd have used the gaps between the stair risers as book shelves.

When I first moved out, I lived in a couple of flats that were much 'cosier' than this. A bedsit with a shower-room and a kitchenette in a city centre probably costs more than a two or three bedroom semi in the suburbs or countryside. That's what dense population is about.

I don't get why this is 'news'. Sure it's a small house, sure it's weird that a guy pushing 40 still shares a bedroom with his mother, but neither issue is particularly out of the norm.